


A Forbidden Love

by ravenclawgirl98



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:16:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28463706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenclawgirl98/pseuds/ravenclawgirl98
Summary: Liliana Stonehelm was never supposed to be born. The product of an Elvish woman and a Dwarvish man, she is shunned by many. But what people don't know is that there is a power hidden deep within Liliana, a power that Thorin Oakenshield will need if he has any hope of reclaiming his home. Can he learn to accept Liliana? Can Liliana learn to tear down her walls and find love?
Relationships: Thorin Oakenshield/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16
Collections: Hobbit, Middle Earth, The Hobbit Fanfics





	1. Chapter 1

It was dark as the half breed woman made her way through the quiet halfling town, her elvish ears pricking up at the slightest sound. Other than the occasional dog barking, everything was quiet. Good, because that meant that no curious folk would be trying to be snoopy and find out what was going on. The Grey Wizard had told her to go to the house that was located on the top of the hill, but there were lots of hills here, and lots of houses on top of those hills. He also told her that he would mark the door, which would make things a bit easier for her.

Liliana Stonehelm was a half breed. Depending on who you asked, a half breed would mean one of two things. For those who were actually decent people, a half breed was a person made from two separate races. For those who were more prejudiced, a half breed was someone who shouldn’t be alive, someone to be spat on whenever they would cross your path.

Unfortunately, Liliana had met far too many of the latter, but in her fifteen hundred years of living, she had learned to not let it bother her. She had learned not to trust people, and her horse, Belhun, had become her only friend. In fact, the only reason that she had come to this sleepy town was that  _ Mithrandir  _ had offered to pay her handsomely for it, and since she didn’t have a single coin to her name at the moment, she’d had no choice but to accept his offer.

As Belhun trotted up to the house in question, Liliana could see through the paned glass windows that there were already quite a few people there, and the majority of them looked to be dwarves, which caused her to stiffen a bit. Dwarves were one of the main races to cause her so much trouble because of her blood status. It was funny, you would think that the races that she was made of would be the ones most accepting of her, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Because dwarves and elves hated each other with such passion, they couldn’t seem to understand how a dwarvish man had fallen in love with an elvish woman, according to them, it just wasn’t possible. The dwarves said that Liliana’s mother must have used some kind of dark powers to seduce her father into her bed, and the elves insisted that Liliana’s father had forced himself onto her mother.

Liliana was distracted from her thoughts as Belhun trotted up to the gate, and Liliana hopped off of her, tying the black mare to one of the wooden poles before walking up to the front door which she noticed was painted a nice forest green. Sure enough, there was a small mark that was of Gandalf’s making. Liliana took a deep breath before knocking on the door, making sure that her auburn colored hair would cover her pointed elvish ears. She wanted to avoid telling them as long as possible if Gandalf hadn’t already made them aware of the fact.

Speaking of, it was the Gray Wizard himself that opened the door for her. “Liliana.” He smiled warmly at her. “I’m so glad that you decided to come.”

“Well, I didn’t really have a choice, did I?” Liliana responded as she walked into the brightly lit house, her eyes scanning the place. Most of the hustle and bustle seemed to be coming from the dining room, and she could hear the raucous laughter of perhaps a dozen or so dwarves. “How much have you told them about me,  _ Mithrandir _ ?”

“I have told them that you are a female warrior that I wished to join us on our journey.”

“And my blood status?”

“They know nothing of it. For now, they will think that you are of the race of Man, most likely.”

Liliana arched her eyebrows. “Most likely?” She repeated, and Gandalf chuckled softly. “Some of these dwarves are smarter than perhaps most people give them credit for.” He placed his hand on her back, guiding her into the dining room, and every head turned to look at her. “Gentlemen, this is Liliana, the young lady that I was telling you about.”

Liliana smiled to herself, fifteen hundred years old wasn’t exactly young to a lot of people.

“Take a seat.” A wizened old dwarf with white hair and a beard to match smiled cordially at her. “There is still plenty of food to spare. I am Balin.” He bowed to her, as was dwarvish custom. “At your service.”

“A pleasure Balin.” Liliana greeted him, he seemed to be alright. Another dwarf, one that was taller than even most Men, looked at her appraisingly. “Gandalf said that you were a warrior.”

“That’s right.”

“What weapons are you able to handle?”

“I am fairly adequate with a sword, but my bowmanship is not to be outdone.”

“Another archer!” Cheered one of the younger dwarves, and Liliana turned to look at him. “It is rare for a dwarf to be good at archery, or even to enjoy it.” She noted, and he nodded his head. “Many of my people thought that something might be wrong with my head when they learned that I loved something that is typically only used by elves and Rangers.”

“Well, I’m sure that you’re very good at it.” Liliana told him as Balin gave her a plate that was full of food. She thanked him before digging in, but she had only been able to get a few bites in before Gandalf came up to her. “My dear, I wonder if you wouldn’t mind waiting in the other room, another is coming that may not be as welcoming to your presence.”

Liliana didn’t know what he meant by that, but she nodded her head, taking a few more bites before allowing Gandalf to lead her out of the room. They ran into the halfling that supposedly owned the house, and Gandalf asked him if he could take Liliana someplace secluded. “Thorin can be quite moody at times, and I want him to be in a somewhat good mood before I tell him that you will be coming with us.”

“Let me guess, he thinks that a woman should cook, clean, and birth children.” Liliana predicted, and Gandalf chuckled softly. “You hit it right on the nose dear.”

“She can wait in my bedroom.” The halfling piped up. “I can start a fire in there so that she won’t get cold.”

“Excellent.” Gandalf nodded his head. “Once you’ve done that, please come back and join me, Bilbo.”

Liliana followed Bilbo to his room, which was spacious and had a nice armchair that was seated in front of a large fireplace.

Bilbo put some wood into the fireplace, lighting a match and starting it. “So you know Gandalf then?”

“We’ve crossed paths a few times.” Liliana said as she lowered herself into the armchair. “I wouldn’t say that we’re friends exactly, but we aren’t enemies either.”

“Do you have any idea what this journey is that he keeps on speaking about?”

“I think that the day that anyone understands how Gandalf works is going to be the day that the stars fall out of the sky.”

Bilbo laughed at that as the fire roared to life. “It should warm up in a few moments, just make yourself comfortable.” He scurried out of the room, and Liliana was left alone with her thoughts. She wondered what those dwarves would say if they knew that they would be traveling with a half breed, a supposedly ‘forbidden race’. She could imagine that they wouldn’t be too happy about it, especially this Thorin Oakenshield. Even though she had never met Thorin, his reputation was one that had spread to many places. Thorin Oakenshield was a stubborn and sullen man, and he cared more about his people than he did his own life. Liliana admired his selflessness, but he left much to be desired. He didn’t trust many people, especially those from other races. He hated elves with a burning passion, and he would probably try to kill the first one that he came across. Liliana couldn’t really blame him though, considering how King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm had wronged him. Liliana’s thoughts were once more interrupted as a now unconscious Bilbo was carried into the room, and Thorin Oakenshield himself stared at Liliana with a cold and steely gaze that made her want to dive underneath the bed and hide. Liliana could already tell that the journey ahead was going to be laced with problems, problems that were only just beginning.


	2. Chapter 2

“Gandalf…” Thorin’s voice was laced with venom, and Liliana wanted to recoil, but she forced herself to keep looking at him. “You did not tell me that you had intentions of a half breed joining us on our journey. What is the meaning of this?”

“Liliana is an excellent warrior.” Gandalf said, sending an apologetic glance Liliana’s way. The woman had known that Thorin wouldn’t take very well to her being here, but he could at least try to mask his displeasure with her.

“I will not be having someone like  _ her  _ on our journey, I forbid it.”

Liliana scoffed, shaking her head. “I hate to break it to you Master Oakenshield, but Gandalf is the only one that can send me away.” Gandalf had been the one to hire her, so he was the only one that would be able to send her away, once she had gotten her pay of course.

“Can you not see past your bigotry Thorin?” Gandalf demanded. “We will need her on the journey, you know that you need as many swords as you can possibly get.”

Thorin gritted his teeth together, he knew that Gandalf was right, and that thought angered him to no end. “Fine, but she must do everything that I tell her to do, and if she steps one toe out of line, she leaves.”

“So long as you don’t force me to do anything vile, I suppose that I could agree to that.” Liliana said slowly, nodding her head, and Gandalf sighed in relief. “Good, it would seem that we have our Company then.”

“Balin will give you the contract to sign.” Thorin said in a low voice, and Liliana shook her head. “As I stated before, my contract is with Gandalf, and not yourself. He has paid me half and will give me the other half once the journey is complete. I require none of your gold or your jewels Master Oakenshield.”

“Perfect, everything is settled then.” Gandalf said quickly, before Thorin could get a word in edgewise. “Thorin, I am sure that you and the others are quite tired, and we will be having an early start tomorrow morning, so I suggest that we get some rest. Liliana, would you mind staying here with Bilbo until he wakes?” Gandalf leaned in close, whispering the next words into her ear. “He is rather hesitant about coming with us, so perhaps you would be able to convince him otherwise.”

Well, Liliana wasn’t sure how good of a job she would do at that, but she could at least try, couldn’t she? So she nodded her head. “I shall certainly try,  _ Mithrandir _ .”

  
  


It wasn’t long after the others had left the room that Bilbo had started to awaken. Gandalf had made him a cup of reviving tea, and Liliana gave it to Bilbo to slowly sip. “What happened?” She asked him in a soft voice.

“One of the dwarves, Bifur or Bofur or something like that, he started to talk about the dragon.” Bilbo shook his head as he took yet another sip of the tea. “Passed right out. Can’t imagine that impressed them all too much. It doesn’t matter anyway, I won’t be going on such a journey.”

“Why not?”

“Well because...because I could die of course! I’m staying right here where I’m safe, and if you’re a smart woman, you would do the same exact thing. Go back home where it’s safe.”

Liliana sighed and she shook her head, staring into the roaring flames. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible for me, Master Baggins. I haven’t had a place to call home for a long time now, and nowhere has really been that safe for me to settle down.”

Bilbo looked at her curiously, and with a bit of wariness as well. “You aren’t like, a murderer or something, are you?”

Liliana laughed at that, a playful glint coming into her eyes. “No, I am not a murderer, you won’t have to worry about me killing you in your sleep. I have killed the occasional Orc, and there were a few men that I was forced to kill in self-defense. But I do not kill for the pleasure in it that some men seek. For me, killing has no pleasure, why would taking away a life bring me joy?”

“Thorin seemed to hate you, but you seem so nice...do you two have some kind of bad blood or something?”

“Thorin’s reputation precedes him, as does mine. We have never met face to face, but I have heard of him, just as he has heard of myself. He does not loathe me because of anything that I have done, I have not wronged him in any way, no, the reason that he hates me is because of my parentage. You see, Master Baggins, ever since Thranduil of the Woodland Realm refused to aid the dwarves of Erebor when Smaug first attacked, there has been bad blood between the two races. It is something that has always inherently been there, under the surface, but after that, it was something that was publicly known. Dwarves hate elves because they think that elves behave as though they are better than anyone else. Actually...that’s true in a lot of cases, I have met far too many elves that have needed to be knocked down a peg or two. As for elves and their feelings towards dwarves, they feel as though dwarves are too stubborn for their own good. Which...I suppose is also true.”

“But that is no reason why they should hate you.” Bilbo objected. The halfling had been listening to the half breed woman intently, and he was still confused as to how these dwarves could hate a woman that they had never even met. 

Liliana gave him a sad smile. “That is what happens when two people from races that are supposed to hate each other fall in love I suppose. My father was a dwarf, my mother an elf.” When Liliana was younger, her mother had told her the story so many times that Liliana knew it by heart, even so very many years later.

“My father had been traveling with a group of dwarves. They were all merchants, they would take dwarven made toys and such to other villages and towns. They were attacked by a rogue band of Orcs, my father’s companions were quickly slaughtered, they had been given no time to prepare or defend themselves because they had been taken by surprise. My father was soon the only one standing, and he was prepared for the fact that he was going to be killed. One of the Orcs raised their sword, and they had been about to bring it down on my father’s head when suddenly an arrow flew by, hitting the Orc right between the eyes. My father turned and saw my mother, standing on the top of a hill, a fierce look in her eyes. The others moved to attack her, but they didn’t even stand a chance. The Orcs were soon vanquished, and she went to my father, to make sure that he was alright. He had a few cuts on his body, but other than that he was unharmed.”

“It was like she was his guardian angel, sent from the Valar.” Bilbo whispered, and Liliana chuckled softly. “Yes, that was actually what his nickname for her was. Well, things happened, they fell in love, and soon enough I came along. It was something that was quite forbidden, so my parents were forced to go into hiding, they made their home deep in a wood, and there they lived for quite some time.”

“Do they still live there now?” Bilbo asked, and Liliana shook her head. “No, but that is a story for another time, I’m afraid. Gandalf asked me to try and convince you to join us, but I cannot force you to do anything, no one can. I understand that you are frightened, believe me, when I first started out, I was frightened as well. But then something overcame the fear, and that was joy. I was out exploring the world, it was something that I had always wanted to do. Something tells me that you want to explore as well, Master Baggins.” Liliana lightly patted him on the shoulder. “As I said before, the only one who can make this decision is you, but think about it. Think about what you would be missing out on if you didn’t come on this journey.”

Liliana left his room, and was met by Gandalf.

“I do not know if he will be coming or not.” Liliana said, shaking her head. “I can sense that he wants some form of adventure, but he is also timid and frightened. It is something that only time will tell.”

Liliana then walked outside, laying out her bedroll and laying upon it. Liliana rarely slept indoors, she wasn’t the biggest fan of enclosed spaces. She hummed softly as her eyes closed, and she drifted off to sleep, the only other sound being the chirping of crickets and the occasional sound of a dog howling at the moon.


	3. Chapter 3

Liliana awoke early the next morning. She had always been a light sleeper, and usually woke up with the sun. she stretched, a soft smile on her lips as she felt the sun shining on her face. After laying there for a moment or two she got herself up, and rolled up her bedroll, she thought about getting the dwarves up so that they could get an early start on things, but knowing her luck, they would probably accuse her of trying to strangle them in their sleep or something, so it would be best to just stay out here until they were awake. 

Liliana reached into her pack, taking out some dried meat and  _ lembas  _ bread, chewing on the meat as she stared at the house. She was starting to wonder if this had been a good idea, there would no doubt be tension and strife due to her being there, and that meant that she wouldn't be trusted, and how could she help them if none of them trusted her?

About ten minutes later, Gandalf exited the house, making his way over to her. "The dwarves are all still sleeping." He informed her, and Liliana nodded her head. "I suspected as much. I was going to go and wake them up, but then I thought better of it."

Gandalf chuckled at that. "They will trust you in time Liliana, I can assure you of that."

"Really?" Liliana shook her head. "Because I'm fairly certain that most of them would kill me as soon as look at me, especially Thorin Oakenshield."

"Thorin Oakenshield is an incredibly stubborn individual, and given his experiences with the elven people, it is only natural that he should dislike you at first, but just give him some time and I am quite certain that eventually, he will warm up to you."

"It is not just the elven blood in me that he despises Gandalf. He hates the fact that I have dwarven blood, that I have  _ his  _ blood, coursing through my veins. It would be better if I had Men's blood instead of dwarf, or even if I was a full blood elf." Liliana sighed as she put up her hair so that it hung in a braid down her back. "He is going to remain adamant with his hatred for me, and I don't think that anything is going to change his mind on that." A stray wisp of hair fell out of the braid, and she tucked it behind her ear. "I am not going to leave Gandalf, you needn't worry about him scaring me off, you know as well as anyone that I am far too used to having people dislike me." She glanced up at the sun. "If we're going to make any sort of progress on the road today, we had best be going. Since I value my life, I shall leave the waking up of the dwarves up to you."

  
  


An hour later they were finally on the road. Gandalf had Liliana remain at the back of the group so that she could ensure that no one fell behind, which she was fine with because it meant that she could be alone with her thoughts. Liliana looked around at the landscape around her, the scenery of the Shire was quite beautiful, it definitely wasn't a place that she would mind staying in. Fili hung back from the others, his horse walking alongside her own. "I want to apologize for my uncle's behavior." He said to her, and Liliana arched an eyebrow in surprise. It had been a while since anyone had apologized to her for anything.

"My uncle is stubborn and firmly set in his ways." Fili continued, reiterating what Gandalf had said to Liliana earlier. "You have not wronged us in any way, therefore I see no reason to be afraid of you or to hate you."

"Well...thank you Fili." Liliana said softly, and for a moment all was quiet. "I do not blame your uncle for his hatred towards elves, they abandoned your people when they needed help the most, and that is something that I don't condone."

Little did Liliana know that Thorin was listening to the conversation that she was having with his nephew with a troubled mind. People like Liliana were supposed to be reviled, and killed if someone had the ability to do so. Thorin had never met any of her kind, and had thought that they were monsters, ugly creatures that had dark powers, but Liliana was anything but ugly, in fact, she was really beautiful, she obviously had the beauty that was associated with her elvish half, and he sensed a stubbornness and strength that could only be associated with the dwarves. As for the dark powers...Liliana had been treating them with nothing but kindness, so how dark could her powers be, if she even had any to begin with? Thorin shook his head, it could be a trick for all that he knew, and he wouldn't be the one to fall for it, and he wouldn't let his nephew fall for it either. "Fili!" He said sharply. "Come up here, don't be talking to the filthy half breed."

Fili sent Liliana a sympathetic glance before joining his uncle, and Liliana sighed softly. Well, it had been good while it had lasted she supposed.

Suddenly her ears pricked up. "Stop!" She called out. "Do you hear that?" Someone was calling for them to wait, and Liliana smiled when she recognized the voice as Bilbo's. So the Hobbit was going to be joining them after all. Liliana was glad of that, it would be nice to have someone along besides Gandalf and Fili that didn't hate every bone in her body. Bilbo was placed on a pony, and money was exchanged between the dwarves. Apparently, bets had been made on whether or not the Hobbit would show up. Bilbo was placed on a pony, and the group decided to start on their way once more.

"So what made you change your mind about coming with us?" Liliana asked Bilbo, who looked extremely nervous on being atop of a horse. Well, technically it was a pony, but still.

"i decided that I didn't want to go through my days doing mundane things anymore." Bilbo said, shrugging his shoulders. "Your words were a big factor in it too. I don't know what I would be missing if I didn't come along. I know that it will be dangerous, but who knows, I just might come out better because of the things that I will be experiencing on this journey."

Liliana smiled softly. "Well I'm glad to know that my words had some impact on you Bilbo. Do not worry, I shall try to protect you on this journey as much as I can. If possible we will find you a weapon and I shall teach you how to defend yourself."

The rest of the day was spent with Liliana telling Bilbo about the different things that she had seen on her travels. She had to admit, it was a nice change to talk with someone that was actually interested in what it was that she had to say, and with Bilbo here, maybe the journey would be a bit more bearable for her.


	4. Chapter 4

TW: mentions of rape and death.

Rain. For the past few days, it seemed like rain was the only kind of weather that they'd had. The only ones that weren't grumbling about it were Liliana and Gandalf. Liliana had the hood of her cloak up, the material that it was made of made it so that most of the water was repelled. She was still wet, but not nearly as much as the others were. 

"Gandalf, can't you do anything about this deluge?" Gloin complained, causing Gandalf to chuckle. "It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, then you had best find yourself another wizard."

Liliana tuned out of the conversation then as Bilbo asked Gandalf about other wizards. Besides the weather, there hadn't been anything to hinder their journey any, but Liliana was certain that it was only a matter of time. At the mention of Radagast the Brown, Liliana listened to the conversation once more. 

"Is he a great wizard?" Bilbo asked. "Or is he more like you?"

Liliana couldn't help but laugh at the offended look that was on Gandalf's face. "He is a great wizard in his own right." Liliana spoke up. "I know Radagast well, I spent some time with him when I was a child."

"Did your own parents not even want you?" Thorin said with a smirk on his face, and Liliana stiffened. "If you must know, Master Oakenshield, my father left before I was born. Why, I do not know. The reason why I stayed with Radagast the Brown was because my mother was killed, slain by the orc that is responsible for all of your woes."

"Azog the Defiler?" Balin asked in a quiet voice, and Liliana nodded her head. "The very same. You think that you have seen trouble and turmoil? My life hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows. I have seen things that would make your skin crawl, things that would make you scream in terror. I have seen women raped and sold as slaves, children killed mercilessly, and there wasn't a single thing that I could do about it." Liliana turned to face Gandalf. "I am going to scout ahead." She galloped off before Gandalf could do or say anything, and Gandalf sighed softly.

"Has she really seen the kinds of things that she's mentioned? Bilbo asked in a quiet voice, and Gandalf nodded his head. "Liliana has seen a great many things, Bilbo, things that you could not even begin to imagine."

Thorin rolled his eyes. "The half-breed is just trying to make herself out to be some mighty warrior, Baggins. Pay her no heed. What could she have possibly seen?"

"She has seen a great deal, Thorin Oakenshield." Gandalf snapped. "Much of it, she had been through herself."

"Those women that she was talking about." Kili said in a solemn voice. "Was...was she one of them?"

Gandalf didn't reply, which answered the young dwarf's question for him. Thorin was silent as well, looking in the direction that Liliana had gone with a troubled mind.

  
  
  


When Liliana returned to the group that night, she discovered that Gandalf had left. Apparently angry words had been exchanged between Thorin and Gandalf, which honestly didn't surprise her, if anything, she was surprised that it hadn't happened before now. They had camped for the night close to an abandoned farmhouse, and Liliana had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She could sense angry spirits at work here, vengeful ones. Whoever it was that had lived here, their deaths had not been natural ones.

Liliana sat away from the others, watching as Bombur began to make dinner for everyone. To her surprise, Thorin made his way over to her and sat down next to her. It was silent between them until Liliana spoke up. "There are vengeful spirits here." She said, gesturing to the old farmhouse, which was really nothing more than charred remains now. "I do not know what happened here, but I can sense death, perhaps multiple ones. But what I do know is that the deaths were not natural, it was no accident that occurred, either. The people that died here were murdered."

Thorin sighed deeply. "Gandalf could sense the same thing, he tried to get me to bring my Company to Rivendell."

"I can't imagine that you were too pleased with that suggestion." Liliana retorted, and a small smile graced the dwarf's lips. "No, I wasn't. That was why he stormed off to Durin only knows where."

"This may come as a surprise to you, but I am glad that you did not choose to go to Rivendell." Liliana said, chuckling at the surprised look that was on Thorin's face. "The elves look at me just the same as you do, Thorin. Although, you have a victory over them in the fact that you have not yet tried to kill me. There are not a lot of half-breeds in this world, and as far as I know, I am the only one made of dwarf and elf blood. The elves believe that my father forced himself onto my mother. I do not know if that story is true or not, my mother would never talk about him, the only thing that I know of him is his name and that he was of dwarven blood."

"What was his name?" Thorin asked her. 

"Salor. His name was Salor Stonehelm." Liliana was surprised at the gentleness that was in Thorin's voice, it wasn't as cold as it had been the past few days. "Are you starting to grow attached to me, Thorin Oakenshield?" She teased him, and Thorin rolled his eyes. "No, I still hate you...I just hate you a little bit less then I did before."

Their conversation was interrupted by Balin, who gave them each a bowl of piping hot stew. "Thank you." Liliana said before taking a small bite. It was delicious, much better then a lot of the food that she had eaten on her various travels. Thorin laughed at the look of delight that was on her face. "Bombur is an excellent cook, it is why I asked him to come on this journey with us. He is not Middle-Earth's most skilled warrior, but dwarves have been willing to kill for his food in days past. Trust me, if the COmpany had to endure  _ my  _ cooking, then I would not survive even the first week."

"Nor would I." Liliana said as she chewed on a piece of meat. Rabbit, if she wasn't mistaken. "I am a terrible cook myself, I couldn't cook a gourmet meal if my life depended on it."

"I thought it was a given that women are good cooks." Thorin teased her, and Liliana laughed as she shook her head. "When I was living with Radagast, I managed to burn water, don't ask me how I did, because I honestly don't know how I managed to accomplish it, but I almost succeeded in burning the house down, and Radagast and I both agreed that I was to never be in front of a cooking fire ever again."

"It is a good thing that Bombur is with us then, if the cooking had been left to the two of us, then we probably would have caused the Company to die of food poisoning."

As they continued to laugh and joke around with each other, Liliana found herself hoping that each night would be like this one. Their fun was cut short, however, when Fili and Kili came up to them.

"We have a slight problem." Kili said nervously. "Trolls have stolen the ponies...and we may have sent Bilbo after them, and he may have wound up getting himself captured in the process."

Well, this was just wonderful, wasn't it?


	5. Chapter 5

TW: graphic description of broken bones.

Thorin quickly got the others together so that they could devise a plan to rescue Bilbo from the trolls. Liliana was fuming mad at Kili and Fili. They knew that Bilbo didn't have any kind of battle experience, that he had no knowledge of the outside world. What had they been thinking, sending him after a group of trolls? But as mad as she was, Liliana was also curious. It was rare that you saw trolls this far south, it had been years since Liliana had even heard of sightings of one. "Kili, how many trolls are there?"

"Three that we saw." The younger dwarf seemed to understand that Liliana was mad at him, and he wanted to try and appease her as quickly as possible.

"Strange..." Liliana murmured, her eyebrows furrowed together in thought. "As odd as it is to see them this far south, it is odder still to see a whole group of them. Trolls are very solitary creatures, mostly because they get on each other's nerves and they wind up killing each other."

"Enough talk." Thorin said. "We must get our burglar back before he is devoured." Brandishing their weapons, the dwarves all ran into the clearing. Liliana had never actually seen a troll before. They had extremely pale skin, which was probably due to the fact that they couldn't live in sunlight. They also weren't the smartest of creatures, which would certainly work out in the Company's favor.

Liliana pulled out her sword, swinging at one of the troll's legs, and she grinned in satisfaction as he howled in pain. He swung his hand out to grab her, but the half-blood quickly dodged him, rolling out of the way. She climbed up a tree before leaping off of the tree and onto the troll's back and stabbing him. The troll reached around, grabbing Liliana by the leg. Liliana's sword dropped to the ground as she flailed around violently, trying with no avail to free herself. The troll threw her against a tree, and Liliana heard the sound of bone breaking before everything went dark.

When Liliana woke up again, she discovered that she was tied up in a burlap sack. Her arm hurt like Udûn, leading her to believe that her arm was most likely broken. Half of the dwarves were tied up in sacks like she was, while the others were tied to a spit over a fire. Where was Gandalf when they needed him?

Bilbo, who was tied up in one of the sacks, managed to hop up onto his feet and started to talk about how the trolls were cooking the dwarves wrong. Liliana quickly realized that the hobbit was trying to stall for time, and she played along with him. UNfortunately, the dwarves were a bit denser then she was, and thought that she and Bilbo were trying to sell them out in order to save their own skins. Finally Thorin managed to figure out what it was that they were trying to accomplish, and it was at that moment that Gandalf arrived. He stood on top of a large rock, looking down at all of them. 

" _MAY THE DAWN TAKE YOU ALL!"_ He shouted in a booming voice, and he brought his staff down hard on the rock, causing it to break into two pieces. Sunlight poured into the clearing, and the trolls all screeched in pain before turning into stone. 

Gandalf then helped to get everyone untied. Liliana stood up, her arm hanging limply at her side, and she grimaced at the pain that she was currently feeling. Oin scurried over to her, asking if he could inspect her arm. Liliana nodded her head and sat on the ground with him, hissing in pain as her sleeve was rolled up. The bone of her forearm was sticking out, and Liliana had to look away. 

Oin's face was grave. "This is an extremely bad break, and I don't have the equipment that's necessary to set it. The most that I can do is put your arm in a sling. Hopefully we'll come across some town that has the equipment that I need." He placed her arm in a sling, and Liliana sighed as she stood up once more. Wonderful, a broken arm was just what she needed. She knew that they wouldn't be near any towns anytime soon, so she was stuck. She was determined to not hold them up though, lest Thorin decide that they should leave her behind.

Gandalf then walked up to her. "My dear, I apologize for not being able to arrive sooner."

"You better not run off again." Liliana scolded him, and Gandalf chuckled softly. "I promise that I will not leave unless I absolutely have to. Now, I think that you would be interested to know that our friends have found quite the treasure trove."

Liliana nodded and she followed Gandalf down into a small cave. It was indeed a treasure trove. There was quite a lot of gold, along with numerous weapons, some of which were clearly of elven make. With her good arm, Liliana picked up a lightweight sword. The blade was clearly made by elves, but it seemed that the hilt was dwarven made. Strange, considering that dwarves and elves loathed each other. Liliana attached the sword to her belt, and also took a bow that was a lot less beaten then her old one. She rolled her eyes as some of the dwarves buried a chest of gold. Pieces of money were quite honestly the furthest thing from her mind at the moment. If they had already faced trolls, Durin only knew what other dangers that they might be facing.

Liliana crawled out of the cave, though she had some difficulty with the sloping entrance. To her surprise, Thorin helped her out of the cave.

"You won't get much done with only one good arm." He said to her, and Liliana sighed. "Tell me something that I don't know."

"The trolls were Ettenmoore trolls."

"Ettenmoore?" Liliana frowned at that. "No one has seen an Ettenmoore troll in hundreds of years, let alone three of them." She sighed softly. "This does not bode well for the rest of our journey, there is no telling what else we might encounter. If those trolls were any indication, then we will be in for dark days ahead."

"And we will face them the same way that we faced the trolls."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Liliana asked sarcastically. "Seeing as how we were almost placed in a stew?"

Thorin chuckled at that. "Well, maybe we'll switch it up just a little bit then." He told her. "We may not be so lucky the next time."

Suddenly, some nearby bushes began to rustle and shake, and Liliana turned towards them. What now? Thorin withdrew his sword, and Liliana waited in apprehension. She didn't know what or who she had been expecting, but it definitely hadn't been Radagast the Brown on a sled that was being pulled by a group of Rhosgobel rabbits. The sled came to a stop, and Radagast clambered out of it before looking at Liliana and shaking his head at her. "How is it that trouble seems to follow you wherever you go?"

**Udûn: Sindarin for 'hell'**


	6. Chapter 6

Gandalf and Radagast went off by themselves to talk, leaving the Company by themselves.

“What is Radagast doing here?” Bilbo asked Liliana, who shook her head. “I honestly don’t know. But he had an extremely troubled look on his face, so something must be wrong.”

A howl pierced through the air, and Liliana looked around in alarm. “ _Mis_.” She swore under her breath. “Wargs. And you can bet that they’ll be having Orc riders.” She had known that they would be facing Orcs eventually, but dread still filled her. “We cannot stay here, we need to leave.” But beyond the forest that they were currently in was nothing but open fields, they would be spotted in an instant. It seemed like a no-win situation.

“We need to leave.” Liliana said. “There are too many places here that they would be able to corner and trap us.”

“I can distract them.” Radagast said as he and Gandalf rejoined the group. “Give you enough time to get on your way.”

“Are you certain?” Gandalf asked him dubiously. “These are Gundabad Wargs, they could easily outrun you.”

A mischievous glint appeared in the shorter wizard’s eyes. “These are Rhosgobel rabbits, I’d like to see them try.”

“Radagast…” Liliana said, her voice laced with worry. Wargs were vicious, their riders relentless. If they were to catch Radagast, they would kill him without a second thought, and Liliana couldn’t bear to lose anyone else in her life.

Radagast went to Liliana, taking her hand. “Don’t worry about me, Lil.” He said, using the nickname he had given her when she had been young. “They won’t catch me, I promise you that. You just stay safe, remain cautious.”

“I’m always cautious.” Liliana retorted, causing Radagast to laugh. “Not when you were younger, you were quite the troublemaker. It would seem that things haven’t really changed all that much.”

Liliana chuckled softly. “Just promise that you’ll make it out of this.” She said in a quiet voice.

“I promise.” Radagast embraced the woman. “Now get going.”

  
  
  


So far, so good. The Orc scouting party seemed to have fallen for the distraction, and were busy following Radagast. Liliana didn’t say anything as they ran, but her thoughts remained on the man that had become like a father to her over the years. Would he be alright? She wasn’t doubting his abilities, but she couldn’t help but worry. However, her worries soon turned to something else. She looked into the distance and saw that the distraction was no longer working. The scouting party had realized that they had been played and were now making their way towards the Company.

“We won’t last out here!” She shouted to Gandalf. “They’ll catch us in a matter of minutes, and there’s too many of them for us to fight off!”

“I know a place that we can seek refuge.” Gandalf responded. “But do not say a word, because Thorin will not like it.”

Liliana knew then exactly where Gandalf was going to be taking them. _Imladris_ , Rivendell in the common tongue. They were going to where Elves resided, which was why Thorin wouldn’t like it. Liliana wasn’t too sure about it herself, the Elves hadn’t been the kindest of people to her over the years after all. But the thing that mattered to her was getting the Company to a safe place.

They were all crouched under a rock face, and Liliana held her breath as she heard the rough breathing of a Warg above them. Thorin made a hand motion to Kili, who nodded his head in understanding. He crept forward, withdrawing his bow and putting an arrow in it as he crept out from under the rock face. He shot the Warg, who cried out in pain, and the group took off running once more.

Liliana realized almost at once that they wouldn’t be able to make it very far unless someone did something. “Gandalf, keep going.”

“What are you going to do?” Gandalf asked her in a low voice, and Liliana shook her head. “Don’t worry about that, just keep going, and don’t look back.”

Liliana took off running, many of the dwarves crying out in alarm. Liliana headed towards the scouting party, which began to circle around her.

“You are foolish.” An orc growled in the common tongue, which surprised Liliana. Most of them only knew Black Speech, so the fact that one of them could speak in common tongue was quite shocking.

“Perhaps I am.” Liliana responded. “But I’m not going to let you harm those dwarves.”

“Why? Why protect people that would rather see you dead?”

“Because I’m not selfish. Yes, they may not like me, but this is not about liking and disliking people, this is about a group of displaced people trying to reclaim their homeland.” She raised her sword, and it met the Orc’s sword with a loud _clang_. Because she was only able to use one arm, she was quickly disarmed and knocked onto her knees. She stared up at the Orc, who had a smirk on his face.

But then something quite unexpected happened. As the Orc raised his sword to deal a final death blow, Liliana closed her eyes, raising her hand in front of her face as though that would be able to protect her from the blow.

There was a screech of pain, but it didn’t come from Liliana. It had come from the Orc that had tried to harm her. The smell of fire and burning flesh filled her nose, and Liliana opened her eyes, her dark orbs widening in amazement. Flames swirled around her, but they weren’t harming her. In fact, she couldn’t even feel the heat from them. But those around her definitely could. The Orc that had tried to kill her was now on the ground, writhing around in pain as flames consumed his body. The other Orcs cried out in alarm before backing off and running away. They didn’t get very far though. A horn sounded that Liliana could recognize as an Elvish horn.

The flames around Liliana disappeared, and the half-breed struggled to her feet. As she stood, the world around her started to spin and she fell to the ground once more. She felt incredibly weak. Whatever had happened, whatever it was that she had done, it had drained her of nearly all her energy.

She felt someone pick her up, and she looked up into the eyes of Elrond, lord over Rivendell. She tried to speak, but nothing came out.

“Do not speak.” He told her. “Save your strength.”

Liliana had to know one thing though. “T-the dwarves-”

“They are safe.” Elrond reassured her. “They are in Rivendell, they’re safe. And now we need to get you to safety.”

He placed her on his horse, getting on behind her, his arms wrapping around her to stabilize her before his hands firmly gripped the reins.

Liliana could hardly keep her eyes open, the only thing that she wanted to do was sleep.

“You must stay awake.” Elrond told her, his tone urgent.”If you go to sleep then you may not reawaken.”

Liliana was trying, she really was, but eventually her exhaustion overcame her, and she slumped against Elrond, and her eyes closed as she sank into oblivion.

**Mis: Sindarin for 'shit'**


	7. Chapter 7

Many of the dwarves were concerned for Liliana's well-being, none of them had expected her to just run off and sacrifice herself like that. Thorin was probably the most shocked out of all of them. He had thought her to be like her elven counterparts more than her dwarven ones, but in his eyes, only a dwarf would sacrifice themselves without a second thought for people that they barely even knew. He didn't know whether she was alive or dead, but he also knew that the chances of her being alive, after having faced off so many orcs and wargs, well, the chances were pretty slim.

By now, even Dwalin grudgingly admitted to himself that she wasn't half bad, although if you asked him he would vehemently deny it. When Liliana had been brought in by Elrond, Thorin thought for sure that she was dead. She had hardly been breathing, her face snow white. But then Elrond explained that she wasn't dead, but it might be some time before she would wake up. Something about her having to use a great power and how it had sapped her of much of her energy. Thorin didn't really understand any of it, maybe Liliana would be able to explain things better once she was awake.

There was no telling when she would wake up though. Elrond told them that she would wake up at some point, but he didn't know when that point would come.

It was a whole week before Liliana finally woke up, and the first thing that she asked Elrond was if the dwarves were all right. Elrond gave her a smile. "Why don't you see for yourself?" All of the dwarves swarmed into the room, each one asking her various questions, but the main one being if she was alright.

"I feel fine, just a little bit weak." Liliana assured them. "What...what happened exactly? There isn't a lot that I remember."

"You singlehandedly managed to kill a whole group of wargs and their orc riders." Elrond told her. "The power that you possess, it...it is quite incredible. How long have you been able to do it?"

Liliana gave him a look of confusion. "What in the name of Durin are you talking about? What power?"

Elrond raised an eyebrow. "Liliana, you were able to summon fire. It is a feat that I haven't seen in many years. It takes a person of great strength to wield this power, and usually, the only people that are able to do so are wizards, _Maiar_ such as Gandalf. To have someone like you possess these powers, a mortal..."

Now Liliana was more confused than ever. She had been able to summon fire? She had killed all of those orcs? Had she always had that ability?

"Gandalf would be able to explain things better." Elrond continued. "He will come in later. But for right now, you need to rest."

"Can we stay with her for a while?" Kili asked, and Elrond nodded his head. "For a little while, but do not push her too far, she is still quite weak and she will need a bit of rest in order to fully recover."

As soon as Elrond had left the room, the dwarves all started to pepper her with questions until finally, Thorin raised his hand, effectively silencing them. "Liliana, what do you remember?"

"I remember running off to try and distract the orcs long enough for you to escape." Liliana scrunched her eyebrows together as she tried to remember the events. "After that, things get kind of blurry. I know that Elrond is the one who saved me, but beyond that, I don't really remember anything."

"What even compelled you to do something as reckless as to run into the middle of a horde of orcs? Did you have a death wish?"

"No, I just wanted to try and give you lot a chance to escape. I've lived a long time on this earth, Thorin. I know that my time is going to come eventually. But your time is not yet here. I know that you and your friends will do great things if you manage to get Erebor back. My life, it's insignificant."

"No life is insignificant." Said Ori in a small voice, and Liliana shook her head. "Perhaps not, but when you've lived practically your life with people telling you that you're insignificant, that you'll never amount to anything, that you would be better off dead, well, eventually you start to believe the things that they say."

A couple of the dwarves looked at each other guiltily, like they had said the very things that Liliana was describing. They probably had to, but Liliana didn't blame them for it.

"We should let you rest." Thorin said, and everyone took this as a message to leave the room. However, Thorin remained for a moment.

"I want to thank you." He said to her. "You risked your life for your Company, knowing full well that you could die. It was extremely selfless, and you have my gratitude."

"It's nothing that I wouldn't have done for anyone else." Liliana replied honestly. "Thorin, you may not like me, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to be petty and let you and your friends die, not if there's something that I can do to stop it."

Thorin nodded his head, and a silence fell between the two before he spoke up again. "I realize that I may have been unjustly harsh towards you." You could tell that admitting this was hard for him, because Thorin, in true dwarf fashion, didn't like to admit when he had been wrong about something. "I let my hatred towards the elves blind me. You are part elf, yes, but you also have dwarf in you, and that has clearly shown in recent days."

Liliana swallowed, not saying a word, hoping that Thorin could continue. But he didn't say another word, and now it was her turn to pick up the conversation. "So...does this mean that there's a truce between us then?"

"I suppose that it does. And who knows..." A small smile flashed across his face. "Maybe this truce will turn into a friendship at some point. I should go, let you get some rest so that you can recover. I want to leave this place as soon as possible, so once you've fully recovered, we'll be off."

"And here I was thinking that you would be all for leaving me behind."

Thorin laughed lightly. "Gandalf wouldn't be too pleased with me if we were to do that. Besides, now we have a wizard that I can actually get along with, and we may need your powers in the days to come." Thorin gave her another smile before leaving the room, and Liliana sighed as she laid back against her pillow. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but she had a feeling that she and Thorin would be getting along a lot better in the days to come.


	8. Chapter 8

Elven healing worked quickly, and within a few days, Liliana had enough strength to get out of bed and walk around. The dwarves were all pleased to see her and to see that she was healing well. 

Oin, however, had been kind of skeptical about elven healing, so he had insisted on giving Liliana a once over himself, and he admitted grudgingly that they had done a good job. Her arm hung in a sling, it wasn't completely healed, but it was doing much better than it had been doing previously. 

Gandalf stated that he'd had complete faith the entire time that Liliana would come out of it alright. "Although perhaps next time maybe don't be so quick to sacrifice yourself."

Liliana sighed softly. "I would say that I'm sorry Gandalf, but I'm not. I would do it all again if I had the chance. I don't regret what I did. The COmpany was able to get to safety, and that was all that I cared about. You wanted me to come to help them get to Erebor, and I'm going to do that however I see fit, even if it means that I sacrifice my life for them."

Gandalf was silent for a moment, and it was clear that he was thinking about something that puzzled him. "Liliana, you have been mistreated practically your entire life, yet you continue to be selfless and kind to those around you, even to the very same people who have been nothing but cruel to you. Why? Anyone would understand if you treated them as they treated you."

"Because I'm not like those people Gandalf." Liliana responded. "I want to show them that their actions towards me haven't had a negative effect on my life, but a positive one. I want to show them that they aren't going to bring me down, that their words aren't going to cause me fear and doubt, but that they're going to push me to make myself stronger, to prove them wrong."

Gandalf gave her a smile. "You continue to surprise me every time I turn around, Liliana Stonehelm, as well as those around you. I daresay that the dwarves did not think that you would sacrifice yourself so readily for them, and I believe that it has changed Thorin's entire perspective of you. Yes, it would seem that his entire attitude towards you has changed in the opposite direction..."

Liliana raised an eyebrow at the suggestive tone that was in the wizard's voice. "And just what do you mean by that?"

"Oh, nothing." The smile that he gave her told her otherwise, but Liliana decided to not press it at the moment. "Where's Bilbo at?"

"He is in the gardens. He is quite enraptured by Rivendell."

"I mean, you can't really blame him, it is quite a beautiful place after all." Rivendell was gorgeous, as were all of the people that resided in it. Not surprising, considering that elves were known for their beauty. It wouldn't surprise Liliana to learn that Fili and Kili had already tried flirting with a few of them, although Kili had been unfortunate in the fact that one of them had been a male, and not a female as he had originally thought him to be. 

Liliana walked to the garden, and immediately saw the short frame that she recognized as Bilbo's. "Bilbo."

Bilbo turned towards her, a big grin on his face. "You're awake!" He walked quickly towards her, giving her a tight hug. "We were so worried about you."

"I know, and I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to worry all of you."

"Liliana, why would you do that? And since when have you been able to control fire?"

Liliana shook her head as she sat down on a stone bench, and she motioned for Bilbo to sit beside her. "Bilbo, I honestly don't know what happened. I don't even really remember anything after running towards the orcs to try and distract them so that you and the others could escape. I don't know how I was able to conjure fire, it's definitely something that I've never been able to do before, trust me, I would definitely remember. There's been a pickle or two that I've been in that I would have used those powers to get myself out of."

Bilbo frowned a bit. "I've heard stories, legends of the Valar giving certain people abilities when Middle-Earth was in dire need. But they're just legends, they never actually happened...before now anyway."

"Are you saying that those stories might actually have some merit to them?"

"I don't know, but I think that it might be possible. You weren't born with these powers, because if you were, then you would have discovered them long before now, I would imagine."

Liliana nodded her head, he had a point about that, this definitely wasn't something that she had been born with.

"I know that Gandalf has been trying to look into it, he's been searching in the library here in Rivendell for any information that he could find useful."

"I'm guessing that his endeavors haven't exactly been successful."

"Elrond has been trying to help him where he can, but it's not really something that either of them has ever dealt with before. I'm sure that they'll figure it out eventually though."

Liliana nodded her head. There were so many questions that were running through her head, questions that she knew no one would be able to answer at that present time. "Well, there's nothing that we can do about it at the moment, so what do you say that we go and get something to eat? I gather that it will be time for supper soon."

"I think that you just read my mind."

The dwarves were a jovial group at dinner that night, probably because the Company was complete again. They ate and drank, and a slightly drunk Bofur proposed a toast to Liliana. "Without this pretty lady right here, I daresay that the lot of us would have been skewered by those orcs."

The others cheered and raised their glasses, causing Liliana to blush a little bit and duck her head. Gandalf, who was sitting beside her, chuckled a bit. "I would take it in while you can, they are all too intoxicated that I doubt they will remember what happened come morning."

Well, Liliana was grateful for that, at least. She didn't like to be the center of attention with things, and right now, that was exactly what she was. But as she would come to find out over the coming days, weeks, and months, being at the center of things would be something that she would come to get used to.


End file.
